Senior Research Fellows

MEET THE TEAM

Senior Research fellows

SAERI has a Senior Research Fellows and Regional Research Associates scheme which has four core goals:

To secure, for the benefit of SAERI, the skills, advice and guidance of scientists who are in a position to support and promote the institute and its aims

To build research capacity within the region through providing an international platform for OT-resident scientists to engage in research and research outputs and to further develop their environmental science careers

To broaden and strengthen the SAERI network, and forage long-term sustainable collaborations between individuals and institutions

To assist fellows and associates in their search for funding to develop or sustain South Atlantic research (when research falls within SAERI’s strategic science strategy), and through logistical support

Our Senior Research Fellows are renowned international environmental scientists that contribute to SAERI’s scientific excellence. We are very pleased to introduce you to our current fellows:

Dr Tabitha pearman

Senior Research Fellow

dr michael gottfried

Senior Research Fellow

dr paul brewin

Senior Research Fellow

Dr michael harte

Senior Research Fellow

Dr martin collins

Senior Research Fellow

dr vlAdimir laptikhovsky

Senior Research Fellow

dr alistair lavery

Senior Research Fellow

dr haseeb randhawa

Senior Research Fellow

Dr judith brown

Senior Research Fellow

dr sam weber

Senior Research Fellow

dr nicola weber

Senior Research Fellow

Dr Nicola Weber

Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter (2022 - present)

I am an ecologist with a varied background having studied seals, birds and badgers in the UK, and sea turtles, seabirds, land crabs and invasive species on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. I enjoy carrying out research that has practical applications, in particular for biodiversity conservation, and have been involved in the drafting and implementation of biodiversity action plans and legislation to underpin change. I have current research interests in marine management and conservation, island ecology, and am involved with projects in the UK’s Overseas Territories, which support over 90% of the UK’s unique biodiversity. I am also interested in the communication of science and the role of citizen science.

Dr Sam Weber

Lecturer in Marine Biology

I am a marine ecologist and conservation biologist with broad interests in tropical oceanic and island ecosystems, fisheries management, the ecology and conservation of marine vertebrates, and marine protected area (MPA) science and practice. Much of my research focusses on the UK Overseas Territory of Ascension Island, which is home to one of the world’s largest marine reserves, and where I was based for more than 5 years in the Government Conservation & Fisheries Directorate.

I work on a range of marine vertebrate taxa, including sea turtles, sharks, seabirds, tuna, billfish and reef fish; applying tools such as bio-logging, dietary analysis, life history studies and population census techniques to inform policy and management. Results from my research have been used to compile population status assessments, inform fisheries management and support MPA designations. However, I am also interested in testing fundamental ecological hypotheses about the factors shaping the distribution, habitat use and behaviour of marine vertebrates.

My current research is primarily focussed on the spatial and trophic ecology of pelagic top predators - which have been among the worst affected by recent expansions of global fisheries - as well as evaluating threats to marine vertebrates posed by climate change and illegal fishing.

Dr Judith Brown

Focussing on creating MPAs, tackling overfishing and supporting sustainable fisheries Judith currently works as Projects Director for Blue Marine Foundation,. She has previously worked in Fisheries and MPA Management for St Helena, Ascension, Falklands and South Georgia Governments including inshore fisheries, marine habitats and biodiversity research. She is also a diver and member of the Shallow Marine Survey Group (SMSG). Judith studied her BSc in Applied Marine Biology at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh and gained her PhD through Aberdeen University while she was based in the Falklands. Following her strong research interest in fisheries ecology her thesis was on the life history of Patagonian toothfish Disssotichus eleginoides. She has an MSc in Sustainable aquaculture and currently also runs a mussel farm on the Isle of Skye.

Dr Haseeb Randhawa

Haseeb is a marine biologist with expertise in parasitology, evolutionary ecology, molecular ecology, and fisheries science. He has work experience as an academic, fisheries consultant and government scientist.

Haseeb was born and raised in Montreal, Canada and completed his BSc in Zoology at McGill University. He fell in love with parasites sitting through a Parasitology course during 2^nd year at Uni. He decided to pursue a MSc in Parasitology at the Institute of Parasitology (McGill University), where his attraction for parasites grew. He completed his PhD at the University of New Brunswick (Canada) under the supervision of Prof Gary Saunders and the late Mick Burt, studying the determinants of host specificity in skate parasites in the northern Atlantic Ocean. During the latter stages of his studies, he had the opportunity to join a research cruise in the Falkland Islands and visit these beautiful islands.

Following his PhD, Haseeb moved to New Zealand and completed four years of postdoctoral work at the University of Otago (2007 to 2011) in the lab of Prof Robert Poulin investigating the drivers of parasite diversity and host specificity in sharks and skates and worked as a Senior Teaching Fellow for the Ecology Degree Programme at the University of Otago (2011 to 2016).

Wanting to explore the applied side of ecology, he accepted a position with the Falkland Islands Government Fisheries Department as a Fisheries Scientist – Biology (2016 to 2020) before working as a Fisheries Consultant for SAERI Falklands Ltd (2020 to 2021). Since July of 2021, he is Associate Professor in Marine Biology at the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Iceland. His research programme focuses on involving and mentoring undergraduate and postgraduate students in research. His main research theme is the sustainable management of marine resources using an integrative approach to stock identification. Haseeb is an Associate Editor with Marine and Freshwater Research since 2015 and the Journal of Helminthology since 2022.

Dr Alistair Lavery

Alastair is an arachnologist from Scotland with a first degree for Glasgow University followed by a PhD at Paisley College of Technology on the community ecology of arachnids in a Highland glen. His professional work after this was in education, specialising in sustainable development education, but his interest in spiders was never completely extinguished.
His work with the RSPB, before he retired, took him to the Falkland Islands where he began a long-term project into the larger arachnids of the islands, adding South Georgia as it became clear how closely related the spider communities were. This continuing project has, to date, doubled the number of spider species known on the islands to 46. Two species has been added to South Georgia’s shorter list, now at 6 species.
The focus at present is describing the 14 new species found from both island groups, with analysis of the distribution and ecology of all the species just beginning. Alastair is a past president of the British Arachnological Society.

Dr Vladimir Laptikhovsky

Fisheries Assessment Scientist

Vladimir Laptikhovsky is a marine biologist and stock assessment scientist based at the Lowestoft Cefas Laboratory since 2013.

He leads investigations on the different aspects of ecology and stocks of squids, cuttlefishes and octopuses, and contributes to the activities of several ICES working groups. Vladimir also actively participates in studies of ecosystems and marine resources of the South Atlantic and Antarctic (Ascension Is., Tristan da Cunha, Falkland Islands and South Georgia) and respective fisheries. During his wide field experience, Vladimir has found and described several cephalopod species new to science. He has over 140 peer-reviewed publications on the different aspects of fish and marine invertebrate biology.

Vladimir is an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. He was an elected member of the Cephalopod International Advisory Council between 2009-2015, and now is a member of the Joint Scientific Committee to the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement and the Associate Research Fellow in South Atlantic Environment Research Institute.

Scientific interests of Vladimir encompass diverse aspects of marine ecology including deep-sea biology, biodiversity and fisheries; fish trophic ecology; cephalopod reproduction, systematic and evolution; and biology of Buccinid gastropods.

Dr Martin Collins

Originally from Liverpool, Martin first came to the Falklands as a fisheries observer in 1990, but left after a year to undertake a PhD investigating the ecology of squid around the Irish Coast. After completing his PhD Martin worked at Aberdeen University, researching deep-sea fish ecology and lecturing. In 2002, after seven years in Aberdeen, Martin moved to the British Antarctic Survey to work on the ecology of Southern Ocean nekton (fish and squid). In May 2009 Martin moved to the Falklands to take up a post as Director of Fisheries and Chief Executive for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Dr Michael Harte

Dr Harte is Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Oceanography at Oregon State University (OSU). He specialises in Marine Resource Management. He has particular research interests in:
• Marine Spatial Planning
• Fishery management systems
• Co-management of coastal marine resources
• Market transformation and sustainable seafood
Dr. Harte is recognized internationally for his environmental and marine research, education and policy work.

Dr Paul Brewin

Paul gained his PhD at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and has held a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of California San Diego studying deep-sea community ecology and oceanography using novel GIS and relational database tools. Since living in the Falklands Paul has been studying local coastal benthic communities including kelp forests as well as applied fisheries ecology and stock assessment, and developing skills in remote sensing technology such as imaging, side-scan, multibeam, and ADCP data acquisition and analysis. Paul is an active member of the Falklands based Shallow Marine Surveys Group.

Dr Michael Gottfried

Dr. Michael D. Gottfried is based at Michigan State University [MSU], where is a Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Curator of Paleontology at the MSU Museum. He has over 30 years’ experience as a museum curator and professor in conducting field-based and venturesome research. His current work includes a major ongoing project on the Falkland/Malvinas Islands focused on addressing two fundamental questions in the ‘deep time’ history of the islands: [1] the geological origin of the islands in the context of Southern Hemisphere geodynamics, particularly whether the Falklands are more closely related, in a geologic sense, to southern Africa or South America, and [2] the early fossil record of fishes from the islands and what this reveals regarding the Southern Hemisphere’s role in the early emergence of the ‘modern’ groups of fishes. Dr. Gottfried has organized and led two research expeditions to the Falklands, in 2017 and 2019, with funding from the National Geographic Society, and is now planning a return in late 2022 to continue on this research, supported by a just-received grant from the Shackleton Scholarship Fund [awarded to the project’s Co-PI Eric Roberts, James Cook University]. Multiple publications on the data and interpretations to date are well along and will be submitted prior to the next planned field research visit. Dr. Gottfried and his team are also engaged in ways that go beyond the specifics of the research project, including providing fossil specimens [preserved wood from West Point Island] for exhibit at the Dockyard Museum in Stanley, and planning a program for 2023 that will bring a group of university students to the islands for hands-on experiential learning.
Dr. Gottfried expects that Falklands-based geology and paleontology research will be a major focus for the foreseeable future and is looking forward to the potential of having a more formal association with SAERI as a Senior Research Fellow. He and his team have had logistical help from SAERI on the earlier 2019 visit, they have submitted their metadata through SAERI, and very gratefully received letters of support for their research project from SAERI Director Paul Brickle. Dr. Gottfried anticipates and very much welcomes a closer connection with SAERI as the project moves forward.

Dr Tabitha pearman

Dr Pearman is a marine biologist who specialises in deep-sea habitat mapping and Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems. She led SAERIs Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems Project 2020-2022 and currently works as a habitat mapping specialist at the National Oceanography Centre in the UK.